Liska Breitkopf - May 2026

As part of the live-in experience at L’Arche, assistants are encouraged to participate in a multiple-day retreat that is designed to provide space to take a break, reflect on the experience of living in a community and provide assistants with tools to improve their wellbeing. Below are Liska’s reflections after attending such retreat. 

Doing meditation or just sharing how we felt on a certain day always created a feeling of community and being understood as who we are.

Arriving at the Bield retreat house in Perth, I was very warmly welcomed by this special place. I remember that walking into the building for the first time, I could feel an atmosphere of relaxation and silence - inner silence. Staying in a room on my own gave me space to reflect on the past few months of my L’Arche experience, which has been huge and life-changing, infused with both tears and laughter, frustration and happiness.

As the retreat house is surrounded by pure nature, it was easy to focus on my personal needs and feelings - especially during the six hours of intentional silent time. I’ve never experienced not talking to people for such a long time while still in the group, and it opened a whole new world for me. Feeling no pressure or expectation to initiate conversations with the others made me experience everything more intensely and mindfully. In addition, the fact that everyone around me was silent felt like an invitation to spend this time alone… So I sat down on my own and had a cup of tea, danced in the swimming pool like a child, enjoyed a delicious lunch, fell asleep in my cosy bed and went for a walk in a small forest with a beautiful river.

Another highlight was getting to know live-in assistants from different communities: hanging out in the evenings, exchanging our experiences and playing games – that was really nice. As was creating my “life map”. This exercise gave me insight into what I had already achieved and how far I have come in my life. It was interesting and inspiring to hear the life journeys of the other assistants, as it also took some courage to share my story too.

Sitting all together in a circle with our very lovely retreat coordinators Monika and Jim and doing meditation or just sharing how we felt on a certain day always created a feeling of community and being understood as who we are.

These few days I spent at the Bield gave me the opportunity to live slowly, without the busyness of my everyday life, without responsibilities and expectations of myself - I was just being me.

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